I punched in the customer service number on the phone dial and waited. I was calling the bank for help after getting stuck while trying to transfer funds online. The call was answered by an automated response system with a smooth, rather smug-sounding voice that said, 'Welcome to ABC bank's telephone banking'. After navigating the various options, I finally got to a telephone banking representative.
'Thank you for calling ABC bank. How may I help you?'. 'Hi, I am trying to make a fund transfer, but it seems that I require a different kind of debit card now'. 'I can help you with that, sir. Please give me your name'. It turned out that the bank had switched to the new card format recently but was going about making the transition in a strange way. 'So I need a new card that has these set of numbers on the back to transfer funds?'. 'Yes, sir'. 'And unless I order it, the bank will not send one to me'. 'That's correct.' 'How come I did not get a notification about this?'. 'Sir, a running display message was put up on our website for a month'. 'But it is no longer there'. 'That's right'. 'Well, then, I guess I should order a new card'. 'Yes. I can order that for you, sir. Please note that there will be an annual fee for this card'.
I had to admire the bank's audacity. Consider this. The bank decided to change the card format, slap on a new fee, but did not bother informing customers about it. At the same time, the customers needed the new card to transact online. So much for customer service. But the story did not end there.
A week later, I received the card with a note saying that the PIN will be mailed separately and that I would receive it within thirty days. I could go online, it said further, and generate a PIN if I wanted. So I dutifully logged into my account and tried to generate one only to find out that online PIN generation had been disabled. Once again I called customer service and after the initial formalities, endured the following exchange.
'I am unable to generate a PIN online'. 'I can certainly help you with that, sir', assured the customer service agent. 'First, I must activate your card and then you should be able to use it online'. 'Great, thanks'. I thought I was home clear, but he was only getting started. 'I need to do some verification for that, sir. Can you tell me the joint account holder's name?'. Thus started a series of questions to verify my identity. 'Please tell me the last four digits of the card' and so on. 'You want my customer id? Is it the same as the login name?' 'Oh, it is not? Where would I find it?' 'The cheque book? Well I have to get it. Please hold on'. By now, I had pulled out the brief case where I kept all important documents. I started taking things out trying to find the various pieces of information he demanded, laying them out on the bed. Finally he asked for my passport number. 'Which passport number?', I asked. 'The one you gave us when you opened the account'. That was eight years ago! Another feverish search through my stash of old stuff and luckily I found the said passport.
After all this, he told me that he had activated the card and I could use it right away after generating the password online. He also asserted that I did not really need the PIN to make fund transfers. The new numbers on the back of the card were enough. I thanked him and tried my luck again. First, I tried to generate the PIN. Picture my surprise when I got the same error as before! But I was nothing if not perseverant. I then attempted to make a transfer only to be told that grid authentication had been disabled. I called the bank once again. I was informed that the activation may take a couple of hours to be posted and so I waited for some time and tried but to no avail. I had to give up then as I did not have the energy to go through another call to the help desk. I swept all the old documents and stuff back into the brief case and put it aside. I had a vaguely uncomfortable thought that I should have taken the time to sort the documents out and organize them but I was too exhausted from the calls.
After a week, I received the PIN from the bank as promised. Hoping that things would now be alright, I gave it another go. But the web page obstinately stuck to its tune. I had no choice but to call the help desk again. And you know what that meant. This time I was told that the card was in blocked status. To unblock it, the agent told me to authenticate myself first by entering the card number and the PIN I had received. However, that was apparently not enough. Once again I found myself answering the same set of questions as the last time. Out came the brief case again and I went through fishing for this or that document to play Twenty Questions. I now wished I had organized all that stuff. After the rigorous inquisition, the card was unblocked. I made sure I had the agent online while I tried the transfer and that it worked. Success at last. Phew!
At this point, my wife walked in and found all the stuff on the bed with me looking dishevelled and tired. 'What happened? Did you lose something?', she asked. 'Only my mind', I replied.
'Thank you for calling ABC bank. How may I help you?'. 'Hi, I am trying to make a fund transfer, but it seems that I require a different kind of debit card now'. 'I can help you with that, sir. Please give me your name'. It turned out that the bank had switched to the new card format recently but was going about making the transition in a strange way. 'So I need a new card that has these set of numbers on the back to transfer funds?'. 'Yes, sir'. 'And unless I order it, the bank will not send one to me'. 'That's correct.' 'How come I did not get a notification about this?'. 'Sir, a running display message was put up on our website for a month'. 'But it is no longer there'. 'That's right'. 'Well, then, I guess I should order a new card'. 'Yes. I can order that for you, sir. Please note that there will be an annual fee for this card'.
I had to admire the bank's audacity. Consider this. The bank decided to change the card format, slap on a new fee, but did not bother informing customers about it. At the same time, the customers needed the new card to transact online. So much for customer service. But the story did not end there.
A week later, I received the card with a note saying that the PIN will be mailed separately and that I would receive it within thirty days. I could go online, it said further, and generate a PIN if I wanted. So I dutifully logged into my account and tried to generate one only to find out that online PIN generation had been disabled. Once again I called customer service and after the initial formalities, endured the following exchange.
'I am unable to generate a PIN online'. 'I can certainly help you with that, sir', assured the customer service agent. 'First, I must activate your card and then you should be able to use it online'. 'Great, thanks'. I thought I was home clear, but he was only getting started. 'I need to do some verification for that, sir. Can you tell me the joint account holder's name?'. Thus started a series of questions to verify my identity. 'Please tell me the last four digits of the card' and so on. 'You want my customer id? Is it the same as the login name?' 'Oh, it is not? Where would I find it?' 'The cheque book? Well I have to get it. Please hold on'. By now, I had pulled out the brief case where I kept all important documents. I started taking things out trying to find the various pieces of information he demanded, laying them out on the bed. Finally he asked for my passport number. 'Which passport number?', I asked. 'The one you gave us when you opened the account'. That was eight years ago! Another feverish search through my stash of old stuff and luckily I found the said passport.
After all this, he told me that he had activated the card and I could use it right away after generating the password online. He also asserted that I did not really need the PIN to make fund transfers. The new numbers on the back of the card were enough. I thanked him and tried my luck again. First, I tried to generate the PIN. Picture my surprise when I got the same error as before! But I was nothing if not perseverant. I then attempted to make a transfer only to be told that grid authentication had been disabled. I called the bank once again. I was informed that the activation may take a couple of hours to be posted and so I waited for some time and tried but to no avail. I had to give up then as I did not have the energy to go through another call to the help desk. I swept all the old documents and stuff back into the brief case and put it aside. I had a vaguely uncomfortable thought that I should have taken the time to sort the documents out and organize them but I was too exhausted from the calls.
After a week, I received the PIN from the bank as promised. Hoping that things would now be alright, I gave it another go. But the web page obstinately stuck to its tune. I had no choice but to call the help desk again. And you know what that meant. This time I was told that the card was in blocked status. To unblock it, the agent told me to authenticate myself first by entering the card number and the PIN I had received. However, that was apparently not enough. Once again I found myself answering the same set of questions as the last time. Out came the brief case again and I went through fishing for this or that document to play Twenty Questions. I now wished I had organized all that stuff. After the rigorous inquisition, the card was unblocked. I made sure I had the agent online while I tried the transfer and that it worked. Success at last. Phew!
At this point, my wife walked in and found all the stuff on the bed with me looking dishevelled and tired. 'What happened? Did you lose something?', she asked. 'Only my mind', I replied.
5 comments:
Mission Impossible but Mission Accomplished! The title should read -Service With A Smile?-Grit Your Teeth And Bear With It!
Ha ha ha!! Welcome to the world of customer service. Actually, they call it service despite the torture that a customer has to undergo.
I am having similar challenges in changing my credit card address. Apparently, the documents I sent were not enough. KYC norms as laid out by RBI make it even more stringent to change your address or other contact information. I took the easy way out. I go and collect all correspondence from my previous neighbour who still lived there. Phew!
Very nicely put, fun to read but sympathize the agonizing experience.
Very humorously written! I can relate to the experience as well. But I must say that it is not that bad in Australia! I only had to make a couple of calls to sort out my card.
Soumya: the bank in question is in India. It seems they take their security more seriously :-)
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